Dahab to Cairo, Egypt

Thursday 27th September 2007 Desert Falcon Quarry
We cleaned out the car, left our good friends Harry and Joanne’s house (Words cannot express our gratitude to their kind hospitality) and proceeded towards Alexandria along a 4-lane double highway in both directions (8 lanes). Most of the area is built up canalled and cultivated, even though this was called the 'desert road'. Luckily we found an open place and we went into the desert and found a place to sleep in a sand quarry.

Wednesday 26th September 2007 Burema's house, Cairo
Today we went by taxi to the Agricultural Museum. Paid 10c entry each with 10c to take photos. How cheap is that!? We saw ancient implements, seeds found in tombs and pyramids, mummies and skeletons of animals all very well displayed. Also the history of animal husbandry, and agriculture very well done originally, but with much needed dusting and a bit of TLC.
Then we went to the Egyptian Museum which is a kind of warehouse for everything found in all the tombs and pyramids from all over Egypt. It was great, but the R100 each EXTRA to see the mummies was a bit overpriced for what we saw.
Then at the Citadel we met up with Corina and Daniel (Swiss cyclists) again and saw the Mohamed Ali mosque with magnificent views over the city.
We went by taxi today as parking is scarce and the driver knew his way around all the back roads and Nev wanted to look at the city instead of just the traffic.
Harry and Joanne have been absolutely wonderful to us, helping to fix the computer, giving us a replacement cell phone, plying us with 5-Star hospitality, and are such easy, friendly folk, helping us to feel quite at home.

Tuesday 25th September 2007 Burema's house, Cairo
Today we did the "Pyramid thing" (the Landy had to be parked outside as they considered the two gas cylinders on the back "too dangerous" - after going right through Africa with no incidents!) i.e. we rode camels around the pyramids at Giza. These are right on the edge of the city now. There are hundreds of unexplored tombs and smaller dilapidated pyramids around. All three pyramids and the Sphinx are very impressive. We stood in a long queue and paid R30 each to enter the pyramid through a long, low, claustrophobic, crowded tunnel to see a large, hewn out (of the sandstone rock) room with an empty, open sarcophagus. Some people were turning back when they couldn't take the humidity and musty, claustrophobic conditions. Nev talked me through it, or I would have turned back too. We spent more time there than the average tourist, and soaked up the atmosphere of being deep inside a 5000 year old tomb surrounded by tonnes and tonnes of man-built rocks.
The best part however was emerging into the fresh and relatively cool air outside.
There are several Arabs and security around who pretend they want to show you something special, take you out of the way to some opening in the ground, pretending that they are doing you a big favour by taking you where you are not allowed to go, and then want 'bakshish' (a huge tip), it really gets annoying.

Monday 24th September 2007 Burema's house Cairo
We went to the pyramids at Sakara and explored all around the tombs and pyramids avoiding the tourists. The step pyramid is one of the oldest in Egypt, but not that huge.

Sunday 23rd September 2007 “Harry and Joanne’s" house, Cairo
We left early in the morning intending to get to the Suez Canal. It was a long trip and we turned west at Ismailia and found ourselves at a ferry. We didn't see any locks on the canal, but the massive cargo vessels loaded with containers passed every 10 minutes within meters of us. After crossing the ferry (free) we realized we have been IN the Red Sea (swimming), UNDER the Red Sea (tunnel) and OVER the Red Sea (ferry).
We headed with dread for Cairo, (Dave had warned us how terrible the traffic was as he had been here previously). In actual fact it was fine, after having driven in Dar es Salaam, Addis Ababa and Nairobi.
It was busy, and Nev slotted quickly into the Cairo way of driving without hesitating and using his hooter to warn others of his position. With a vague map of Cairo out of the Lonely Planet Guide book and a GPS with some roads and no decent map, we found our way with "more ass than class" and sheer good luck through the middle of Cairo in rush hour traffic to the Burema's house in Ma'adi south of the city. Joanne is Rob Dunlop's sister and Harry his brother-in-law, whom we had met on our very first camping trip with Rick in 2000. We were welcomed with open arms.

Saturday 22nd September 2007 Safari Camp, St Katherine's Monestery, Mt Sinai
Left Dahab for St Katherine's monastery with the German, Michael, (who lives in Porto Rico and who is on a two year travel around the world - very philosophical, wise man). He sat on "Corina's box". We arrived at the monastery to find it closed and wouldn't open until Monday morning, but true to form, Nev found a narrow passage about 1m high with an unlocked door through with we snuck and managed to see most of what we wanted to see. Lots of long-haired bearded monks around. It is one of the few places where a mosque and a church are right next to each other with no evidence or history of antagonism. It is the oldest used monastery in the world and the Jews, Christians and Muslems treat it as a holy site. It is one mountain away from Mt Sinai (of the Ten Commandments fame).
Due to its elevation of 1400m and mount Sinai being over 2000m, the town is in the valley between high mountains and everything echoes (including Nev's favourite sound of the muezzin calling) and is a very touristy village. We didn't climb mount Sinai as we were too fat and unfit and lazy!!!

Friday 21st September 2007 Sunsplash Dahab
Snorkeling again, this time past the hundreds of tourists going to the Blue Hole on camels. There were more people in the water than fish! And this is the low season. Many were wallowing about awkwardly kicking the coral. Some went snorkeling with life jackets on. The clarity of the water allows for a visibility of at least 30m. Nev wasn't feeling well with a runny tummy but by the evening he had 'bottomed out' and was feeling a bit better. We had a lazy two days resting, reading, chatting and snorkeling.

Thursday 20th September 2007 Sunsplash Dahab
The mountains over the other side of the Gulf belong to Saudi Arabia, 18Km over the dark blue sea. The blueness of the sea is unbelievable. We went snorkeling at "lighthouse" in a protected bay.
The coral reef is a sheer wall, not like the flat corals at Sordwana, and we didn't see as much variety of animal life, mainly fish.